Which pharmacies topped J.D. Power’s 2023 survey?

Posted on August 13, 2023 by Pharmaciststeve

These rating can be somewhat deceptive.  Good Neighbor Pharmacy is a Franchise owned by the major wholesaler Amerisource Bergen and Healthmart is another Franchise owned by another large drug wholesaler Mc Kesson and a third Medicine Shoppe is another franchise owned by the large drug wholesaler Cardinal.  While technically they are rated as chains but in most instances the pts are dealing with the Pharmacist/owner. Staffing levels are what the Pharmacist/owner considers appropriate and not be determined by someone at a corporate HQ level and what will meet the bottom line by some executive to help assure that he/she gets their bonus. Look at this hyperlink https://www.jdpower.com/sites/default/files/file/2023-07/2023079%20U.S.%20Pharmacy%20Study.pdf

It has some graphics that would not copy/paste very well.  You will see that in most all of the various segments of how pharmacies are classified, Walgreens & CVS are at the END OF THE LIST.

This survey just validates why I traditionally recommend that pts seek out a independent pharmacy to get better service. Here is a hyperlink to find a independent by zip code and radius https://ncpa.org/pharmacy-locator

Which pharmacies topped J.D. Power’s 2023 survey?

https://drugstorenews.com/which-pharmacies-topped-jd-powers-2023-survey

Good Neighbor Pharmacy and Sam’s Club are among the pharmacies that have earned J.D. Power’s recognition.

J.D. Power has released its pharmacy customer satisfaction rankings.

Good Neighbor Pharmacy, a national independent pharmacy network and pharmacy distributor offered through AmerisourceBergen, and big box retailer Sam’s Club, both have a reason to celebrate.

Good Neighbor Pharmacy has been ranked “First in Customer Satisfaction with Chain Drug Store Pharmacies” in the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Pharmacy Study. This is the 12th time that Good Neighbor Pharmacy has earned this recognition in the last 14 years and the network’s seventh consecutive win.

“I’d like to extend my sincere congratulations to our Good Neighbor Pharmacy members on receiving this prestigious recognition from J.D. Power for the seventh consecutive year, a feat that is truly reflective of independent pharmacies’ dedication to playing a pivotal role in the health and well-being of the communities they serve,” said Jenni Zilka, president of Good Neighbor Pharmacy. “With this achievement, our network is invigorated and even more enthusiastic about continuing to champion the vital role of independent community pharmacies in fostering healthier futures for all.”

[Read more: Good Neighbor Pharmacy administers more than 5M COVID-19 vaccines]

The J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Pharmacy Study was conducted using a methodology consisting of the evaluation of seven factors that represent distinct parts of the customer experience. These seven factors were embedded into an index comprised of a calculated roll up of performance scores, weighted relative to the importance of each factor to overall satisfaction. In addition to receiving the highest overall satisfaction ranking, Good Neighbor Pharmacy ranked #1 across six of the seven study factors, specifically:

  • Pharmacy offerings meet my needs—medication and health and wellness services;
  • Able to get prescriptions how/when I want;
  • Resolving problems or complaints;
  • People;
  • Helping to save me time or money; and
  • My level of trust with pharmacy.

“I am honored to see Good Neighbor Pharmacy emerge once again as Best Chain Drug Store Pharmacy for Customer Satisfaction in the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. pharmacy study,” said Brian Nightengale, president of community and specialty pharmacy, long-term care at AmerisourceBergen. “To our member pharmacies, congratulations! While your outstanding work of course reflects positively on the Good Neighbor Pharmacy name, it much more importantly makes a significant difference in the lives of countless patients across the nation. Thank you for going above and beyond to ensure the health of our communities, and giving others the opportunity to witness and believe in the transformative power of independent pharmacies.”

Sam’s Club also has a reason to celebrate. The big box retailer was ranked highest in Customer Satisfaction with Mass Merchandiser Pharmacies for the eighth consecutive year, according to the study.

Sam’s Club has received the recognition from J.D. Power 10 of the last 12 years.

“This recognition is a reflection of the incredible pharmacists and pharmacy team associates we have across the country who serve our patients with knowledge and care every day,” said Sean Jackson, senior vice president and GMM of Health and Wellness and Consumables at Sam’s Club. “We work every day to give our patients access to high-quality and affordable healthcare services, and we are thrilled they responded to this study in such a positive way.”

According to the study, respondents rated Sam’s Club No. 1 in pharmacy offerings that meet their needs, which includes medication and health and wellness services. Respondents also ranked Sam’s Club Pharmacy No. 1 in level of trust and saving them time and money. Sam’s Club operates Optical Centers and Hearing Aid Centers in the majority of its nearly 600 locations. In addition to its robust RxSavings program where all patients have access to discounted prescriptions, the retailer offers additional discounts on prescriptions to its Plus Members.

“We welcome new patients to visit our clubs and meet their local pharmacists to learn how we can help support their health and wellness needs,” Jackson said.

[Read more: Good Neighbor Pharmacy adds COVID-19 vaccine locator tool]

Here are some additional rankings:

Following Good Neighbor Pharmacy, which ranked highest among brick-and-mortar chain drug store pharmacies for a seventh consecutive year, with a score of 793, is Health Mart (770), which ranks second, and Rite Aid Pharmacy, which ranks third (680).

Following Sam’s Club, which ranks highest among brick-and-mortar mass merchandiser pharmacies for an eighth consecutive year, with a score of 788, is Costco (755), which ranks second.

H-E-B ranks highest among brick-and-mortar supermarket pharmacies for a third consecutive year, with a score of 760. Wegmans (753) ranks second and Publix (744) ranks third.

Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy ranks highest in the mail order segment, with a score of 748. PillPack (an Amazon Company) (709) ranks second and Express Scripts Pharmacy (699) ranks third.

The J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Pharmacy Study, now in its 14th year, measures customer satisfaction with mail order and brick and mortar pharmacies. The 2023 study is based on responses from 12,396 pharmacy customers who filled a prescription in the last 12 months prior to the survey period of August 2022 to May 2023.

To read the full report, click here.

 

https://www.jdpower.com/sites/default/files/file/2023-07/2023079%20U.S.%20Pharmacy%20Study.pdf

 

 

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Do not go gentle into that good night

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Pharmaciststeve

I try to look at things from a distance so that I can have a perception of the larger picture. There seems to be at least three large segments within the chronic pain community.

  • there are those that have lost most/all their medication
  • there are those that will probably lose their medication in the near term
    • there are those who are in denial they are going to loose their meds or oblivious of what is coming over the horizon that will effect their QOL.

How many pts are going to go “gently into the night” ?  Commit suicide and the family has a very quiet funeral and/or cremates the body and everyone consoles each other that their family/friend is no longer in pain, no longer suffering. It is as if the person just “disappeared”  from the face of the earth.

Or, all those years of under/untreated pain and their adverse impact on the pt’s comorbidity issues, finally took their toll. A death that is probably labeled as “natural causes”. Most of their friends knows that there was nothing related to NATURAL CAUSES about their death.

Those chronic pain pts who are not able to be their own strong advocate, they need someone within the family circle to advocate for them. For whatever reason that someone is a “passive pt” they will typically end up with poor medical outcomes and often compromised QOL Someone that has the cojones and Chutzpah and has a medical power of attorney to act on behalf of the person.

Most communications with the practitioner should be done via pt portals/EMR (electronic medical records).  One to one verbal conversations can later be “not remember” or “not exactly what was stated”.  Communicating via EMR and printing out what was submitted to the practitioner and what they response – or lack of response – is… can be used in whatever is needed to document what was said or promised.

A good example, a pt’s pain meds have been reduced, pt who has had “normal-tensive blood pressure “, but the pt’s BP dramatically goes up, simple ask the practitioner what is going to be done about the pt’s hypertension?  After the pt is put on 4-5 different categories of pharma’s anti-hypertensives and the pt’s hypertension doesn’t change.  Ask the question, could there be a connection between little/no pain management and hypertension?  If they say NO.. ask if the pt could be put back on their previous pain meds to see if there was a connection? If they say NO… forget that old “do no harm quote”…  they are suppose to be “healers”. Every NO you get from the practitioner, is just a deeper hole they are digging themselves into.  Send them a article about that hypertension is the “silent killer”..  Is the pt having a stroke, heart attack, kidney damage or eye damage the practitioner’s “health outcome”

By the time the practitioner has figured out the hole they have dug themselves into, it will be too late. If you have printed out and saved all the communication documentation. If the practitioner tries to delete chose pieces of communications… the hole just got deeper.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

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Medicare is quietly being privatized. Does anyone care?

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Pharmaciststeve

This Medicare Advantage prgm is the THIRD time that the Feds have tried such a private version of Medicare. First was Medicare-HMO,  which lasted a number of years but eventually pts dropped out of the system because of poor care and deductibles, copays and other costs increased for the pts and the prgm folded.  Congress tried a second time with Medicare-C and it followed a similar path as Medicare HMO and it folded. Now we have Medicare Advantage, which they are trying to rename to Medicare-C.

This reminds me of the PBM industry that started out first as a way to standardize billing to the insurance industry, and goals to save everyone money, but once it evolved controlling > 50% of the prescriptions, their agenda seemed to refocus on their bottom line. Here is a recent article were the PBM’s controlling Ohio’s Medicaid prgm.. were found to OVER CHARGING the state abt 200 million/yr  https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/imagine-adding-a-middleman-to-ohio-medicaid-and-the-state-got-overcharged-abt-200-million-yr/

I have heard of pts being  “sold” on a particular Medicare-C prgm, which had more to do with the commissions the insurance agent will earn on the particular Medicare-C program they are “pushing”.  Now that this prgm has passed the 50% mark of all  Medicare folks enrolled into such programs. Can we expect to see smaller networks of providers in a particular Medicare-C prgm, higher deductibles and copays and pull back on  “extras”. Could we see the day where traditional Medicare is no longer going to be an option for those reaching 65 y/o ? The youngest baby boomer will soon be 60 y/o. As more and more FOR PROFIT CORPORATIONS are overseeing our healthcare. Your QOL may become more of a commodity.

Medicare is quietly being privatized. Does anyone care?

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/medicare-is-quietly-being-privatized-does-anyone-care-6afb22b4

More than half of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled through private insurers

The campaign to privatize Medicare has just passed a landmark. This year, for the first time ever, more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled through private insurers, a system known as Medicare Advantage.

“In 2023, 30.8 million people are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, accounting for more than half, or 51 percent, of the eligible Medicare population, and $454 billion (or 54%) of total federal Medicare spending (net of premiums),” reports the healthcare nonprofit and thinktank the Kaiser Family Foundation.

As recently as 2005, privatized Medicare plans accounted for just 13% of beneficiaries. By 2033 they are expected to be above 60%.

This is a remarkable evolution. Medicare was created as a government program. But today more than half its beneficiaries are in the hands of private insurers, rather than the government.

Private Medicare plans have existed since the 1970s but only really took off in recent decades. A big change came under President Obama. His Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare,” improved the system, drove down costs and introduced incentives for insurers to make their plans better — including a star rating and annual bonuses for hitting quality targets.

Kaiser reports that those bonuses are on track to jump 30% this year to $12.8 billion, more than four times the amount paid out by Uncle Sam in 2015. This is just over 1% of the annual Medicare budget, which will top $1 trillion this year.

The process of privatizing Medicare has so far been surprisingly uncontroversial so far, possibly because it doesn’t fit easily into a TikTok video.

Is it a good thing? Maybe. Consumers are certainly voting with their feet. Medicare Advantage plans typically operate through HMO or PPO networks, which give them greater control over costs. Most Advantage plans include benefits not offered by traditional Medicare — typically free prescription drug coverage, and vision, hearing and dental coverage. But Advantage plans don’t have to cover hospice, and there is some evidence that those who need the most care are apt to switch back to traditional Medicare.

Due to rules laid down by Obamacare, insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans must spend at least 85% of their revenues on actual care — meaning profits and overhead are capped at 15%. Which means that if the companies offering Medicare Advantage really do provide superior insurance to traditional Medicare, they are also doing so for 15% less.

Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and health tech company Invalon are currently engaged in a deep dive into the mechanics and economics of Advantage. Initial findings seem mixed. Interestingly, they have also found that those enrolling in Medicare Advantage are on average poorer than those enrolling in traditional Medicare. Advantage enrollees are twice as likely to be people of color, and on average earn less, have lower wealth, and are less likely to live in affluent neighborhoods.

Is Medicare Advantage offering its customers better health outcomes, but at lower cost? Time will tell.

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Just like a coin – there is TWO SIDES to the OPIOID CRISIS

Posted on August 10, 2023 by Pharmaciststeve

The “opioid crisis” is like a COIN.. there are two sides. All too many bureaucrats only want to address those who are addicted to using/abusing certain substances. Rx opiates peaked in 2011-2012 and they have already dropped by abt 60% by today, but opioid OD/poisoning has increased from abt 14,000 to over 100,000/yr, and the vast majority of those deaths’ toxicology showed 80%+ illegal fentanyl. One doesn’t need a supercomputer to figure out that when Rx opioids drop by >50% and opioid OD/poisoning is up abt SEVEN FOLD, there is little to no relationship between Rx opioids and addiction. Recently the DEA stated that <1% of pharma opioids are diverted. Yet, there is an on-going push to reduce the availability of Rx opioids to treat acute and chronic pain. How many other high acuity pts dealing with chronic health issues… do we as a country increasingly try to limit or deny appropriate therapy? – that is the other side of the opioid crisis “coin”

The claim that <1% of pharma opiates are diverted, does not address nor confirm that there are a untold number of chronic pain pts are being forced to live without proper pain management and often exist in a torturous level of pain, being forced/restricted to their house, chair or bed. Just like some criminals who are put on “home arrest”, but these chronic pain pts have committed NO CRIMES.

Earlier this year, 50 states’ Attorney General and others sued the top three drug wholesalers that control abt 80% of the pharmacy market and the top three chain pharmacies (CVS, Walmart, Walgreen).  Neither lawsuit went to court/trial but all agreed to pay billions in fines – while admitting no wrong doing – but also agreed to reduce the control meds that are sold to pharmacies and or pharmacies will dispense.

Since most people needing to be prescribed controlled meds are disabled and/or would be disabled without their meds. My non-attorney opinion is that these very large corporations have signed an agreement to discriminate against a large number of people who are a covered entities under the Americans with Disability Act.

I have talked to other chronic pain advocates and all of us or having an increased number of chronic pain pts reaching out because of they are all of a sudden being denied their pain meds.

I recently heard of a state medical licensing board that one particular board member was PUSHING for “rapid weaning” – perhaps a euphemism for cold turkey withdrawal, and reportedly those pts who their prescribers were forced into doing this with their pts and reportedly their had been some deaths – particularly those pts who were concurrently taking a opioid, benzo, and muscle relaxant.

Some pharmacists seem to be imposing their “beliefs” into their “clinical decisions” .. here is one from today https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/02/us/minnesota-morning-after-pill-lawsuit/index.html

I had to get involved with two different pts and where the pharmacist would not look into the pt’s circumstances to adjudicate those circumstances to take care of the pt’s need. One pt ended up moving all her Rxs from a Rite Aid to a local independent and the other one the prescriber was on board, the PBM was on board and it would appear that the Pharmacist did not understand what was said or was just lying and claiming that the claim was being DENIED by the PBM.  I got the pt to get in a conference call with the PBM representative, the pt and the pharmacist… and all of a sudden the Rx claim was  “miraculously” approved and the pt got their necessary medications.

The increased number of pts now reaching out to various advocates for some sort of help/assistance, will probably convert into a similar increase in deaths from comorbidity complications – labeled as “natural causes” – from under/untreated pain and or suicides.

I would suggest that anyone who is reducing your meds, I would ask for the clinical rational  IN WRITING why it is being done. If they reference the MME system as rational.  Here is a article that pretty well explains that the MME system has no double blind clinical studies to support its conclusion  https://www.acsh.org/news/2022/03/01/true-story-morphine-milligram-equivalents-mme-16154

I would ask them, what level/intensity of pain they expect you to live/exist in ? IMO, anything > 5, that is a torturous level of pain.

If, after your meds have been reduced and your blood pressure goes up and you end up on taking up to 4-5 different categories of pharma blood pressure medications and your elevated BP has little/no change… here is a graphic that shows what physical damage you can anticipate https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/htnsideeffects.png

Whatever practitioner you are dealing with, and they have a patient portal… do not be afraid to use it… use it to NUDGE them to give you a answer in writing,  Share documentation, studies that suggests that you needed to be treated differently and you could improve your QOL, after all practitioner are suppose to be HEALERS.

I know that many of you have reached out to law firms. The times are changing dramatically towards those pts who have a valid medical necessity for being prescribed controlled meds. There are records of 3 major drug wholesalers and 3 large pharmacy chains ( CVS, Walmart, Walgreen) that signed agreements with 50 states’ attorney generals and others … that agreed in WRITING … to reduce the number of controls that the wholesalers sell to all pharmacies and those chains agreed to reduce the number of controlled meds they fill/dispense.

At face value, those agreements suggested that the reduction of control meds would be done indiscriminately with a broad brush.

If you don’t have access to a practitoner via a pt portal and if they won’t give you a answer in person. Send them a certified letter asking the question.  If they refuse/decline to answer you in writing… One can presume that they really don’t have any real clinical rational to why they changed your therapy.

Share some of this information with your local media, reach out to law firms that deal with civil rights issues, because most likely you are not the only one being treated in the same manner from the same practitioner or all practitioners that are employed by the same large healthcare corporation, because they are obeying some corporate edict.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DR. TIMOTHY E. KING, MD: THE KING MOTHER OF ALL RATS OF DOJ-DEA FRAUDULENT “OPIOID,” FORENSIC TESTIMONY

Posted on August 10, 2023 by Norman Clement

Timothy E. King, MD “The Rat King Mother of All Fraud” Dr. King’s assertion that prescriptions of opioids should be deemed illegitimate if there is no objective evidence of functional improvement among patients. This premise, however, fails to account for the inherently subjective nature of pain – a critical factor in assessing the effectiveness of pain management.

BITE MARKS AND OPIOID TASK FORCE A COMPARATIVE DATA ANALYTICS LINKING THE DECEPTION FRAUD LIES OF TIMOTHY E. KING, MD, “THE GREAT KING RAT AND MOTHER OF ALL FORENSIC FRAUD,”

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Imagine adding a middleman to Ohio Medicaid and the state got overcharged abt 200 million/yr

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Pharmaciststeve

Drug middlemen say Ohio law raises prices. Then they admit they don’t know

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/08/08/drug-middlemen-say-ohio-law-raises-prices-then-they-admit-they-dont-know/

An industry organization representing powerful drug middlemen said that banning an industry practice would lead to “higher costs and fewer choices for America’s employers.” But to support it, the organization points to analysis that didn’t look at private insurance and didn’t reach the conclusion that it claimed.

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association represents pharmacy benefit managers, a powerful, but little known industry. The three biggest PBMs — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx — control about 80% of the marketplace and each is affiliated with a top-10 insurer. 

The companies serve as health insurers’ middlemen in pharmacy transactions. They created lists of drugs that are covered and they negotiate huge rebates and discounts from drugmakers for putting their products on them. 

And, even though they own pharmacies themselves, the big-three PBMs decide how much to reimburse their own and competitors’ pharmacies.

Complaints that the companies use their size and dominance to engage in anti-competitive practices have the Federal Trade Commission investigating them. Separately, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is conducting his own investigation into whether Express Scripts and several other healthcare companies have violated state antitrust law.

As critics have accused PBMs of taking excessive profits and raising drug costs, the state and federal government have taken steps to regulate them. And PCMA, the industry group, has worked to stop those controls.

The organization maintains that its member businesses use their power to squeeze down the prices drugmakers charge and that they pass the savings along to customers. But that’s hard for outsiders to judge because many of the transactions are shrouded in secrecy.

On July 25, PCMA put up a blog post claiming that in an instance when some data were available, an analysis showed that an Ohio regulation drove costs higher. But that’s not what it said.

In 2019, the legislature and the incoming DeWine administration were eager to get a handle on the dealings between the big PBMs and the Ohio Department of Medicaid. A year earlier, the department commissioned a study after The Columbus Dispatch obtained a partial set of confidential data and determined that CVS Caremark and OptumRx were charging taxpayers a lot more for drugs than they were paying the pharmacies that dispensed them. 

The department got the PBMs to cough up all their data and determined that in a one-year period, they up-charged taxpayers $224 million. The same analysis also found CVS Caremark and OptumRx were charging 3 to 6 times the normal rate — costing taxpayers an extra $150 million to $186 million a year.

Then Yost did an analysis while he was still state auditor. It covered a different 12-month period and found that for generic drugs alone, the PBMs charged 31% in fees — or $208 million.

At the same time, independent and small-chain pharmacists were complaining that low reimbursements by the PBMs were making it hard for them to stay in business. Indeed, CVS has bought many of them out, closed many of its own stores and shifted their prescriptions to still-open stores, where employees have said understaffing has endangered patient safety.

In 2018, as an attempted fix, the legislature outlawed a practice known as “spread pricing.” That’s when PBMs charge taxpayers a certain amount for a prescription and reimburse pharmacists another. The law also took steps to ensure that independent and small-chain pharmacies would get better reimbursements.

To see how well the law was working, the Medicaid department hired Healthplan Data Solutions, the company that performed the earlier analysis. It compared data from the last quarter of 2018, when the old system was still in effect, with the first quarter of 2019, when the new one took hold.

The analysis found that pharmacists were getting $38 million more in reimbursements in the second quarter when compared to the first, but it made no calculations about whether the overall system was costing taxpayers more. Considering that the PBMs took a quarter-billion dollars over a year-long period that the new law was supposed to eliminate, additional overall costs seem unlikely. After all, on an annualized basis, the additional pharmacy payments were $72 million less than the PBMs were found to be taking in up-charges.

That didn’t stop their industry organization from claiming the opposite, however.

It titled a July 25 blog post “Eliminating Spread Pricing Would Lead to Higher Costs and Fewer Choices for America’s Employers.”

It selectively quoted from the Healthplan Data Solutions analysis to make it sound like the law ending spread pricing increased overall costs.

It said the analysis “found that mandating the move to a pass-through pricing model resulted in an increase in prescription drug costs. The increase in drug costs for Ohio Medicaid was directly linked to higher payments to pharmacists and higher ‘ingredient costs and dispensing fees,’ leading to a ‘total increase’ of ‘$38,308,479 for the first quarter.’”

The post added, “The HDS report clearly shows that taking away the option of a spread pricing contract resulted in higher drug costs for the state.”

However, the blog post didn’t mention that the analysis didn’t look at how much taxpayers saved by eliminating the PBM up-charges allowed by spread pricing. 

Greg Lopes, a spokesman for PCMA conceded as much in an email Monday.

“Ohio Medicaid payments to pharmacists increased, according to the report,” he said. “The report did not include any data showing overall savings to the state as a result of eliminating spread pricing as a contracting option for the program.”

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DR. TIMOTHY E. KING, MD: “THE KING RAT,”

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Norman Clement

Repeatedly appearing as an expert witness for the prosecution in the Eastern District, Dr. King’s biased and misleading statements raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. It is argued that he operates as a medical fig leaf for prosecutors, who use his testimony to support their narrative on opioid use, often disregarding differing medical opinions.

THE GREAT KING RAT: UNCOVERING DOJ- DEA’s DR. TIMOTHY E. KING, MD TRAVELING SHOW OF LIES AND DECEPTIONS

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This video is a couple of years old BUT INTERESTING

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Pharmaciststeve

I have always been told that there is THREE SIDES to every story.  My side, your side and THE TRUTH. Where this video and the story related falls in that spectrum is for others to determine

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THE STORY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, COURTS, AND THE DEA’S CRIMINALIZATION OF PAIN CARE PROTOCOLS

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Norman Clement

THE BURDEN OF PAIN: THE STORY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, COURTS, AND THE DEA’S CRIMINALIZATION OF PAIN CARE PROTOCOLS

Filed under: General Problems, Medication withdrawal, Mistakes/Errors | 1 Comment »

Opioids mixed with cocaine or psychostimulants are driving more overdose deaths, CDC data show

Posted on August 5, 2023 by Pharmaciststeve

This statement from the article –In 2021, opioids were present in about 79% of overdose deaths —  Is similar to someone stating that the majority of people with a BMI >24.9 drinks sodas and is considered overweight or obese. There are a lot of various soft drinks/sodas… some containing sugar, some are sugar free and some are high in caffeine.  Just like it has been reported else where that ~ 80% of all drug OD/poisoning involved illegal Fentanyl from China & Mexican cartels.  Is the words/phrases used in this article intentionally misleading or just shows how poorly whoever crafted this article understands who/what is really behind all of these deaths?

Opioids mixed with cocaine or psychostimulants are driving more overdose deaths, CDC data show

https://news.yahoo.com/most-overdose-deaths-involving-cocaine-040116408.html

Drug overdose deaths involving cocaine and psychostimulants such as methamphetamine have been rising quickly in the United States in recent years, and a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that opioids are also involved in most of those deaths.

In 2021, opioids were present in about 79% of overdose deaths involving cocaine and about 66% of those involving psychostimulants, according to CDC data. And these multi-drug combinations have become increasingly common.

Overdose deaths involving both cocaine and opioids have become more than seven times more frequent over the past decade, growing from less than 1 death for every 100,000 people in 2011 to nearly 6 in 2021. And those involving both psychostimulants and opioids became 22 times more common, jumping from 0.3 deaths for every 100,000 people in 2011 to nearly 7 in 2021.

Deaths from cocaine or psychostimulants that did not also involve opioids also increased, but they grew at significantly slower rates.

“The epidemic is showing us that it is quite dynamic and it can change quite rapidly,” said Katherine Keyes, an associate professor at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, who was not involved in the new report but whose research focuses on psychiatric and substance use epidemiology. “This data is a stark reminder of how much more we need to be doing to combat these very preventable deaths.”

Although the new CDC report does not specify the type of opioids involved, experts say that these trends highlight the dangers of illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.

“Cocaine combined with fentanyl is much more toxic and lethal. Methamphetamine can kill more than cocaine by itself, but having said that, it’s much more dangerous when you combine it with fentanyl,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who also was not involved in the new research. “This accounts for why we’re seeing firsthand a high rise in mortality from these two drugs.”

But fentanyl isn’t the only factor, and addressing the deadly overdose epidemic in the US will require multiple strategic approaches, experts say.

“The dramatic rise in cocaine- and methamphetamine-involved deaths over the past decade emphasizes that this is a polysubstance overdose crisis, not an opioid crisis, and that we need a range of proven interventions to save lives,” said Dr. Sarah Wakeman, an addiction medicine physician at Mass General Brigham, who was not involved in the new report.

Both intentional and unintentional combinations of these drugs are probably contributing to rising overdose death rates, she and others say.

The use of opioids along with stimulants has long been common among drug users: for decades with cocaine and more recently with psychostimulants such as methamphetamine.

“Research has shown that people who are using both stimulants and opioids are at even higher risk of health-related complications, and treatment models addressing both are more limited,” Wakeman said.

But fentanyl has also contaminated the illicit drug market, raising the risk of unintentional exposure.

Dealers “are diluting that drugs that are more expensive to manufacture and adding fentanyl,” Volkow said. “They put a tiny little bit of fentanyl, which is less expensive but so potent that it will generate a powerful substance.”

This is particularly true for cocaine, which is more expensive to manufacture and transport, helping explain why the new CDC report found the combination of cocaine and opioids to be so common, she said. And the amount of cocaine coming into the US has increased significantly.

“The more drugs that get into the country, the greater the number of people that are going to be exposed to the practice of mixing these drugs with fentanyl in the illicit market,” Volkow said.

About 110,000 people in the US died from a drug overdose in the past year, according to another data set from the CDC that tracks overdose deaths through February. About a quarter of those deaths involved cocaine, and a third involved psychostimulants such as methamphetamine. More than two-thirds involved opioids.

 

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